Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the risk of falls in patients participating in the group of physical activities for Parkinson’s of UNICAMP using the TUG as the main tool.

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders in the world. Falls are common symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and are present even in early disease stages1.  It is estimated that 68% of patients with PD fall at least once a year2. Falls reduce patient’s quality of life and can lead to consequences such as loss of autonomy and independence, change of home / environment, family rearrangement and death. The Time Up and GO (TUG) test was designed to evaluate mobility in the elderly and was validated to quantify locomotor performance in people with PD3.

Method: We included 14 patients with clinical diagnosis of PD who had independent gait or with the aid of an auxiliary device. The UPDRS and H&Y scales where also performed.

Results: A total of 13 patients were evaluated, 8 male, mean age was 64.07 years (min 43- max 83), 15% presented score Hoehn and Yahr <2.5 and 69%> 2.5, the mean total UPDRS was 39. 8 patients presented a TUG score greater than the cut score (11.5 s) used in the TUG validation article for risk of falls4. However, of these 8 patients, only 3 had falls in the last 3 months. We observed in our sample that the TUG was not sensitive to asses risk of falls. Since times higher than the cutoff score (11.5 s) most often showed no drop in the last 3 months.

Conclusion: For our sample, the TUG test was not a sensitive tool to evaluate the risk of falls, therefore more studies are needed.

References: [1]Haertner et al; Effect of Fear of Falling on Turning Performance in Parkinson’s Disease in the Lab and at Home, 2018; [2] Silva et al; Assessing Timed Up And Go In Parkinson’s Disease: Reliability And Validity Of Timed Up And Go Assessment Of Biomechanical Strategies; 2017; [3] Morris et al; Reliability of Measurements Obtained With the Timed “Up & Go” Test in People With Parkinson Disease; 2001; [4] Nocera et al, Using the Timed Up & Go Test in a Clinical Setting to Predict Falling in Parkinson’s Disease, 2013

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/assessment-of-the-risk-of-falls-in-patients-with-parkinsons-disease-using-time-up-and-go/